Dybala anchors Juve’s win
Milan, Sept. 18: Juventus and Napoli bounced back from Champions League disappointment to keep their Serie ‘A’ perfect records and join Inter Milan at the top of the table.
A Paulo Dybala hattrick lifted Juventus to a 3-1 victory at Sassuolo making it four wins out of four for the champions, while Dries Mertens also scored three goals as Napoli demolished Benevento 6-0.
Inter Milan beat Crotone 2-0 on Saturday for a maximum 12 points in the campaign.
Benevento were no match for Napoli, looking for a strong response after their 2-1 Champions League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.
“We were unlucky in Ukraine,” said Belgian forward Mertens.
“Against Shakhtar we made mistakes and didn’t play our game, but today we showed we can do damage,” he added.
Brazilian Allan opened after three minutes and Lorenzo Insigne added a second after quarter of an hour in Naples.
Mertens kicked off his hat-trick with a 27thminute volley, and then converted two penalties, with Jose Callejon also getting on the scoresheet in the first half.
Napoli are the new leaders on goal difference, but Mertens played down title talk.
“It’s still a long journey, Inter and Juve are doing well but we’ll see game after game,” he added. ARGIE SHINES Dybala’s heroics helped Juve bounce back after their 3-0 Champions League flop in Barcelona.
The Argentine left the pitch ten minutes from the end to a standing ovation at the Mapei Stadium following a masterclass performance by the 23year-old, who has now scored eight goals in four league games. — AFP